Plural compartment refrigerating apparatus



I'LURAL COMPAR'IMENT. REFRIGERATING ABPARATUS Lawrence A. Philipp,Detroit, Mich., assignor to Nashngtor .Corporst qn, D t i Mi h, acorporation ofMarylnnd a n s a: February 19, 1953, Serial No. 337,325

" 1 1st gem- This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and moreparticularly to food freezer units.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an improvedarrangement of the components of a home food freezer unit to decreasecost and facilitate assembly of such units.

More specifically it is an object of my invention to form a pair ofcabinet liners such that a space therebetween is made available to amachinery compartment for a refrigerant condensing unit, and to enclosethe liners and machinery compartment within a single casing.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved doublecompartment home food freezer of economical construction and highoperating efficiency by providing two similar liners of singlecompartment freezers arranged with their machinery compartment offsetsin opposed relationship and in such manner as to increase heatinsulation between the storage compartments and between the compartmentsand the machinery compartment.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my home freezer unit having parts broken awayand in section;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the home freezer unit having parts broken awayand in section; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical illustration of the refrigerating system ofthe home freezer unit.

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, the numeral 20designates, in general, a large size freezer cabinet having a pair oflaterally spaced food storage compartments 22. The compartments 22 haveaccess openings in the top of the cabinet which are closed by lids 24that may be hinged to the cabinet rear wall.

In order to construct economically a large freezer unit of the sizeindicated, I provide a pair of cabinet liners 26 having offset endsarranged in opposed relation to provide a space therebetween for arefrigerant condensing unit 28, and I enclose the liners and condensingunit by a one piece casing 30. The liners 26 are box-shaped and theoffsets in the opposed end walls of each has a horizontal portion 32 anda vertical portion 34.

The liners 26 form the inner wall surfaces of the storage compartments22 and are cooled to a low freezing temperature by a refrigerantevaporator coil 36. Preferably the coil 36 is arranged in good heatconducting re lation with the liners and extends along the side, endsand offset walls thereof.

Below the horizontal walls 32 and between the vertical walls 34 of theliner offsets, I provide a housing 38 which forms a machinerycompartment for the refrigerant condensing unit 28. The housing 38 maybe made of sheet metal and may extend from front to rear of the cabinet.Between the casing 30, liners 26, and the machinery United States Patent6) 2,738,656 Petsetes Men .0; .?56

same thicknessof insulation that is provided in conventional singleliner units,'or"the"same thickness of insulation as used between'theliners 26and casing 30 atthe outer end andatthe side walls thereof. Asaresult, I obtain the advantage of having substantially twice thethicklsfi Qf as lat si 'bs l efi liners 26 and betwn the liner walls '42anc l the condensing unit 28, thereby assuring that there will be noappreciable heat transfer between the liners or be'tweenthe cbndensingelement and As shown in Fig. 3, the refrigerant condensing unitcomprises in general, a refrigerant motor-compressor unit 44 and arefrigerant condenser 46. A conduit 48 connects the motor-compressorunit to the condenser 46 and the condenser supplies liquid refrigerantto the evaporator 36 by means vof a capillary tube 50. A refrigerantaccumulator 52 is connected by the usual return conduit 54 to themotor-compressor unit 44. Preferably, a fan 56 is provided to cool thecondenser 46 and is arranged to discharge air from the machinerycompartment through an opening (not shown) in the cabinet front wall.

The cabinet is reinforced by a pair of access opening frames 60 forcompartments 22 and connect the liners 26 to the casing 30 to increaserigidity of the structure. The liners 26 have outturned flanges 62around the upper edges thereof which may be secured to the frames 60 byscrews or by other suitable means. A tie plate 64 which is secured tothe casing 30. spans and connects the frames 60 together and thus alsoties the liners 26 together to increase rigidity of the structure.

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that I haveprovided an improved construction and arrangement of the components offood freezers to construct large size units economically. It will alsobe understood that by arranging two liners having opposed offset wallsthat a machinery compartment is provided Within the confines of thecasing for housing the condensing unit of the refrigerating system. Inaddition, it will be seen that by spacing the liners apart a distancesuch that each of the opposed, offset end walls has the establishedinsulation thickness for single liner freezers that there is asubstantially double wall thickness of insulation between the liners andbetween the liners and condensing element to insure against anyappreciable transfer of heat therebetween.

Although preferred and modified forms have been illus- I trated, anddescribed in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various other modifications may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a pair of boxlike liners havingend walls with lower oppositely directed offsets and the liners being inopposed spaced relationship, said offsets providing a space for amachinery compartment, a refrigerant condensing unit in said machinerycompartment, refrigerant evaporator means on said liners operativelyconnected to said condensing element, a casing enclosing both of saidliners, said liners having their outer end Walls and side walls spacedfrom corresponding end and side walls of said casing, insulation betweensaid corresponding end and side walls of said liners and casing todecrease seepage of heat from the ambient to the cabinet liners, saidliners being spaced apart such that the distance between the opposedofiset end walls above the offsets is substantially twice that of thedistance between the corresponding end and side walls of said liner andcasing to prevent any appreciable exchange of heat between said liners,insulation between the opposed end walls of said liners above theoffsets forming a partition between and common to said compartments, anda pair of laterally positioned hinged lids forming the top wallsrespectively of said compartments and resting on the upper edge of saidcommon partition.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, a pair of boxlike liners arrangedwith end walls in opposed spaced relation, said opposed end walls havingsimilar oppositely directed ofiset lower portions, a refrigerantcondensing element housing between said offset portions of said liners,a casing enclosing said liners and said housing, said liners havingouter end walls and opposite side walls spaced from corresponding endand side walls of said casing, insulation in the spaces between saidcorresponding end and side walls of said liners and easing, said opposedend walls being spaced apart a distance substantially twice the spacingof said corresponding end and side walls of said liners and casing andsaid lower ofiset wall portions being each spaced from said housingsubstantially twice the distance of the space between said correspondingend and side walls of said liners and said casing, and heat insulationin the spaces between the opposed end walls of said liners above saidoffset and in the spaces between the offset wall portions and said hous-References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,356,781 Morrison Aug. 29, 1944 2,481,512 Hubbell Sept. 13, 19452,552,345 Phillip May 8, 1951 2,675,937 Phillip Apr. 20, 1954

